Pentecost and Love146

Give me one hundred people who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergy people or lay people, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth. + John Wesley

Pentecost, that lovely, red-colored holiday that comes fifty days after Easter, is coming! Soon we will celebrate the descent of God’s sweet Spirit upon the followers of God’s strong son and, in doing so, the church will be born again (or so we hope and pray!).

In Italy, rose petals will be dropped from the ceilings of cathedrals to recall the tongues of fire. In France, trumpets will sound to evoke the mighty wind, and in churches all around America, women and men will wear red and children will hand out crimson carnations.

But, given the radical, subversive, and quasi-apocalyptic nature of this holiday, shouldn't our churches do more than just hand out carnations? It seems to us, over here at SALT, that Pentecost might be a perfect day to let our sons and daughters prophesy, our young men and women see visions, and our elders dream dreams.

Pentecost is a day to remind everyone in the pews that "even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:18).

That's why we find ourselves thinking about LOVE146 as we anticipate this fierce and fiery day. Simply put, LOVE146 is committed to not only combating child sex slavery and exploitation, but also to the restoration of survivors.

Our prayer this week is that God's Spirit will dive deeply into this world where two children are sold into slavery every sixty seconds, and that God's church will be born again and strengthened to help abolish hurt and pain all around the world, and in our own backyards.

Together with the power of the Holy Spirit, we too can shake the gates of Hell and do our part to build up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth...

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A big SALT Project thank you to Alysia Nicole Harris for speaking out, for dreaming dreams, and for her poetic prophecy!